UN Programme, Agency or Fund

19 January 2009: The Ministerial Conference on Global Environment and Energy in Transport took place from 14-16 January 2009, in Tokyo, Japan, with the participation of representatives from G8 and other States as well as relevant international organizations, to discuss issues and consider measures on greenhouse gas (GHG) and air pollutant emissions from the transport sector.�

19 January 2009: UN officials and representatives of international agencies belonging to the High-Level Task Force on the Global Food Security Crisis, ministers and several Heads of State will convene from 26-27 January 2009, in Madrid, Spain, for a High-Level Meeting on Food Security for All. Hosted by the Spanish Government, the meeting will review progress since the “High-Level Conference on World Food Security: The Challenges of Climate Change and Bioenergy,” held in June 2008, during which 181 States and the European Community pledged to alleviate the suffering caused by soaring food prices, stimulate agricultural development and food production, and address obstacles to food access.

9 January 2009: The 34th Council of the Global Environment Facility (GEF), which took place from 11-13 November 2008, approved $201.17 million for funding 37 new GEF projects, eight in climate change, one in land degradation, and eight multifocal proposals.

January 2009: The Global Environment Facility (GEF) has released a nine-minute video by Ibrahima Fall, a Senegalese filmmaker, which documents the work of the GEF in climate change projects in selected African countries.

January 2009: The third meeting of the Group on International Aviation and Climate Change (GIACC/3) of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) will take place at ICAO headquarters, in Montréal, Canada, from 17-19 February 2009.

19 January 2009: The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the UK Forestry Commission have produced a 17-minute video on “Forests and Climate Change: a Convenient Truth.” The video shows how forests can contribute to the mitigation of climate change, stressing the importance of reversing forest loss.

19 January: The Timber and Forestry programme of the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) have released a new web-based resource tool to enable researchers, policymakers, practitioners and the general public to access data on Europe's forests. The database includes information on the balance of carbon in forest ecosystems, forest health condition, status of forest biodiversity, aspects of production, protected forest areas, as well as social and economic aspects of the forestry sector.

15 January 2009: The UN has regionally launched its World Economic Situation and Prospects 2009 Report, a joint product of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the UN Conference on Trade and Development, and the five UN regional commissions.

15 January 2009: Three projects aimed at countering the gorilla's slide towards extinction were spotlighted as the international Year of the Gorilla (YoG) 2009 got underway with a “Gorillas on Thin Ice” event. The projects, which were drawn up by the UN Environment Programme Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (UNEP/CMS), seek to boost the prospects for the Cross River Gorilla, which is Africa's rarest ape.